4 Weeks
by RavenCurls
Summary: Elphaba and Fiyero made a bet. Whoever who loses will be the other person's servant for 4 weeks. What will happen? Fiyeraba.
1. Chapter 1 The Bet

**Chapter 1 : The Bet**

**A/N My first Wicked fanfic! Please read and review.**

It was the a warm summer evening when the group of friends exited from their last class of the day. The sun was still shining, casting long shadows on everything in its path, including the students.

Galinda tossed her hair, irritated with the heat, and how it made her makeup melt.

"Let's go out for dinner", she suggested.

"Leave me out. There is a history test for tomorrow, and I need to study for it", Elphaba, ever the studious one, replied.

"Elphie, you have been paying attention in class, and you have been revising everyday. Do you still have to study for that boring topic again?" Galinda was aghast.

"Well, there is no such thing as being too prepared for a test."

Galinda rolled her eyes, imitating Elphaba, which made the remaining 2 of the group - Boq and Fiyero - laughed.

"What about you, Fiyero?" She asked.

"Well, actually I have promised a friend to be at Ozster's today", he admitted.

"Well, I am free for dinner actually", Boq chipped in, his face brightening up.

"It is no fun if it's just the two of us, Boq", Galinda told him outright.

Elphaba looked seriously at Fiyero. "Don't you have a history test to study for?"

Fiyero grinned at her. "I have a history test to sit for, but that does not necessary mean that I have to study for it."

Now it was Elphaba's turn to roll her eyes.

"You don't pay attention during class, don't take notes, don't prepare for your test, then why are you here for? I don't believe that it was just last week when you told us that your parents have written a letter asking you to pull up your socks."

"Mama Elphie", he called her teasingly. "Don't you worry, I will pass the test."

"I wouldn't bet on it."

"Bet? I never imagine you as a betting person. So you want to bet on the grades of tomorrow's test?"

Galinda and Boq kept quiet, wondering if Elphaba will take the bait. This was getting interesting.

"What do you want to bet on, Fiyero?"

Fiyero took one step closer to Elphaba, staring into her eyes. "My grades."

Elphaba stared right back.

"Alright, your grades. If you can do better than me in tomorrow's test, then... "

"Now you know that is impossible, Elphie", Galinda told her. "You are always top in in class."

Elphaba thought for a while.

"You are right", she told Galinda. Turning back to Fiyero, she said "If you manage to get a grade better than a C for tomorrow's class..."

"Then you will be my servant for 4 weeks!" Fiyero said, a grin on his face.

"But that will also mean that if you get a C or below, you will have to my servant for 4 weeks." She told him, deadpanned.

"Can he be my servant too for those 4 weeks?" Galinda asked, very excited, almost jumping up and down. They all knew Fiyero rarely got anything better than a C. It is not an impossible task, but not easy either.

"Deal", he said, stretching his hand out for a handshake.

Elphaba shook his hand. "Deal."

"And now I am going to prepare to go to Ozster's", he said, giving a flamboyant bow (which made Galinda giggled, of course), and then walked away.

"And now to study", Elphaba said, as she turned and walked back to her dorm, with Galinda following.

Boq looked at one direction at the departing Fiyero, and then at the other direction at the 2 departing girls, and then run after Fiyero, who was walking towards the direction of the boy's dorm.


	2. Chapter 2 The Paper

**Chapter 2 The Paper**

**A/N thank you to SailerSea, HisHairAreFlawless, Mimi and James Birdsong for reviewing chapter 1. And the followers! Thanks!**

**Subsequent updates will usually be once a week on Sundays. This week I am one day early, because I am exceedly frustrated with work and need some 'inner peace'.**

Galinda walked beside Elphaba, her shorter legs doing catch up with her roommate's longer strides.

"Elphie, are you really going ahead with the bet?" She asked.

"Why not? Are you concerned that he will lose?"

Galinda pursed her lips. "Well, actually no. I am just wondering, what will you make him do if he lost his bet and becomes your servant for 4 weeks?"

"I have no idea, Galinda. He came up with the terms, not me." Elphaba admitted, starting to regret abit about accepting the bet.

She thought for a while. "There seems to be nothing that he can do. I don't need him to carry my books. He cannot clean our room. He can't cook..."

"Well, can I ask him to give me massages?" Galinda asked hopefully, her hands clasping each other. "That will be sooooo romantic!"

"I thought you are over your crush on him?" Elphaba asked.

"Oh, Elphie, one can always hope. Anyway, its just massages." Galinda told her friend, a frown on her face.

The next day, the 2 girls went to the History class early. They went to their usual seats, right in front, which was Elphaba's favourite seat, since it meant that she could catch everything the professor said, and also not be distracted from the antics of the rest of the class.

The rest of the class soon filed in and the noise volume in the class raised as everyone checked with one another on how well, or how ill prepared, they were for the test.

Boq, came in, and sat next to Galinda.

Soon after, the professor came in.

"Students, are you ready for your test?" He asked.

There are a few replies of mixed reponses, but the majority went about their conversations.

Just when the professor is about to give out the question papers, Fiyero came in.

It was obvious to the whole class that he either had a hangover, did not have a good night sleep, or both. His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot. A last minute shave with a few missed spots showed his last minute effort as making himself presentable. He mumbled an apology to the professor and quickly found a seat, far away from the two girls and Boq.

Elphaba looked at Galinda, and gave a shrug.

The professor proceeded to distribute the papers, and then the whole class started to answer the questions. The usual scenario played out. Galinda would try to write feverently, occassionally chewing on the tip of her pink pen. Elphaba will write non-stop, a frown on her face, since she was always determined to write as much as she could, as she always had more to write than the time allowed. Boq, on the other hand, gripped his pen with a death grip, as he was equally determined to give a good answer, as well as delivered it with neat almost-printlike handwriting.

At the other side of the room, Fiyero scribbled on his pencil, occasionally running his hand through his hair as if he could rub the answer out from his scalp. He gave out a sigh or two when he was stuck with the question, and would then continue with this working, until his fingers, not used to writing so much and so fast, would feel cramped and then he will give them a shake before continuing.

At the end of the class, the professor collected the answer sheets, and the students streamed out of the classroom.

Galinda, Elphaba and Boq waited for Fiyero outside. And when he saw them, he gave a carefree grin and walked up to them.

"Easy paper, wasn't it?"

"Not so bad," Boq replied.

"And now that the test is over, I would like to go back to my room and rest."

"Do you have a hangover?" Elphaba asked. "It wouldn't be fair to continue with the bet if you come to class with a hangover. I don't want anyone to say we didn't compete on fair grounds." She added, hoping that he would back out of the bet.

"Of course not. The bet is still on." He told them, as he went back to his room for a much needed sleep.


	3. Chapter 3 The Results

**Chapter 3 The Results**

**A/N Ah yes, I couldn't wait to tell the readers know about their test results too. :P But next update will come next Sunday.**

**Thank you to peacesigngirl and SailorMoon for reviewing. SailorMoon, your question will not be answered so fast...**

The test results were released the following week.

Most students were not nervous. It was, after all, just another one of the many tests that they had for each subject. Except for one particular student.

When the professor called out Elphaba's name, he passed her her answer sheet, and in addition, gave her a smile reserved only for his best students, and a kindly encouragement. "Good job, Miss Thropp".

Elphaba took back her paper, and Galinda leaned to her side so that she could see the score written on the answer sheet.

"You are disguisting, Elphie", she told her roommate with a giggle.

When Fiyero's name was called, he walked down the stairs with a swagger to hide his nervousness. He then quickly grabbed the answer sheet from the professor, and pressed it against his chest without even looking at the grades, and went back to his seat. Only then did he peel away the top right corner of the paper from where it was still pressed against his chest, and peeked.

Galinda had turned backwards to look at his expression, and even waved abit to try to get his attention, but the prince just sat in his seat pretending to be paying attention to the class which was started, and continued like this for the rest of the lesson.

When the lessons end, the three friends, all curious about Fiyero's results, waited for him outside the classroom.

He came out, saw them, hesitated, and then walked over.

"So how did you do for the paper?" He asked Elphaba.

"She got an A+ again!" Galinda squealed, as if she was the one who was the one who had gotten the good grades.

"What about you, Fiyero?" Boq asked, the suspense killing him (since one week ago).

Fiyero did a tah-dah! as he turned the paper so that it faced the three friends.

A _B-_.

"What?" All three chorused.

"You guys didn't expect that, do you?" Fiyero said, smugness all over his face.

"I'm impressed", Elphaba had to admit.

"Elphie, do you know what that means? It means that you have lost the bet", Galinda whispered.

"Oh my oz", Boq said.

Fiyero crossed his arms, and smiled at Elphaba. "Well?"

"I admit defeat. So I will be your servant for 4 weeks. What do you have in mind?"

Fiyero then rattled off his wish list as if he had them memorised.

"Well, I will be nice about this. You will still be able to attending your classes.."

"Of course!" She told him.

Fiyero ignored the outburst.

"But you will be following me to attend all my classes so long as there is no clash with yours. You will learn whatever that is being taught, and then do my work for me."

"That's against my principle. I can teach and guide you, but I will not do your homework or projects for you."

Fiyero thought about it. "That's fair enough. That will be for weekdays. For weekends, you will have to help me with whatever chores that is assigned to you - cleaning my room, filing my stuff, etc. And follow me wherever I go."

"Excluding the washroom and the Philosophy Club", Elphaba set out another exception.

"I don't go to the Philosophy Club", he told her. She raised her eyebrows. "Alright, I no longer go to the Philosophy Club."

"And you will have your off on Sunday evenings, and whenever we go out in a group."

Elphaba thought about it. She had lost a bet, and she could not find much fault in his terms without sounding like a sore loser.

"Terms accepted", she told him.

"Great. We will start this weekend."

News of the bet spread across the school like wildfire.

Fiyero got quite a few thumbs up wherever he went.

And quite a few girls wished that they had come up with the idea so that they can have an excuse to go into Fiyero's room, even if it was to clean up a room.

When the news reached Nessarose, she exclaimed, "But what is father going to think about this?" And then Galinda had to work her charms on the girl to ensure that news would not go back to Frex.


	4. Chapter 4 Week 1

**Chapter 4 : Week 1**

**A/N Thank you to hollyBush (I love SkinDeep!), musicGal3, SailorSea, Lady Osipria,FabalaTiggular & robber'sdaughter for the reviews. :) SailorSea, I like that last part about Nessa too. Typical her! :P**

Fiyero had instructed Elphaba to go to his room after her breakfast, with his breakfast, and so it was, on that first weekend of 'servant month (as Fiyero had coined it)', that she found herself walking to the boys' dorm for her first housecleaning job, with nothing but a book.

Galinda had wished her well, and said that she will be with her 'spiritually'. Elphaba had laughed at that.

Despite being on rather friendly terms with a few boys (namely Boq, Fiyero, Tibbett and Croup), Elphaba had never been into the dorm of any of the boys. She was never invited, and was never interested too. As a matter of fact, she had never been to anyone's room, except for hers and Nessarose's.

She knocked on the door of Fiyero's dorm, slightly nervous. What will get her to do? Clean cobwebs? Wash the toilet? Paint the walls?

Before her imagination could go any further, the door opened, with Fiyero, dressed casually for the weekend, behind it.

"You're on time!" He said with delight.

"I am never late for anything," she informed him.

"It's good to see such enthusiasm coming from one who loses a bet," he told her teasingly. "Come on in."

Elphaba went into his room. As a prince, he did not need to share his room with anyone. With the second bed removed, his room seemed larger than the one Elphaba shared with Galinda, even though she knew that all the dorm rooms are roughly the same size.

In the place of the removed bed, Fiyero had put a small table at the corner, with some personal belongings on top, a jug of drinking water and a gramophone.

There were two mountains of notes stacked up on the study table, leaving little room for a person to sit down and do any studying. There were also a few clothes lying around, and Elphaba suspected that the rest were in the wardrobe, neatly pressed, since Fiyero always turned up neatly and fashionably dressed (the latter according to Galinda, since Elphaba was not remotely interested in fashion).

"So what am I supposed to do?" She asked him.

"Filing." He told her. "These," he waved to the two mountains, "are everything from this term – projects, tests, whatever little notes that I have taken. I am just not good in filing them."

Elphaba signed. She had helped Galinda kick start a filing system soon after the term started, and was not expecting that she would need to do the same for another friend so soon.

"Alright," she told him.

As her request, Fiyero found a few boxes, one for each subject. They then took down the first pile of papers onto the floor.

Using coloured paper, she divided each box into sections, writing down their contents in her neat handwriting. "For projects, notes, tests, miscellaneous items," she told him.

As Fiyero ate his breakfast while seated next to her, Elphaba went through the paper. There were some that she could identify easily, since they took some subjects together, but there were others that were filled with his scribbles, so unreadable that she had to pass to him to identify which subject it was for. There was quite a few pieces in which there was nothing but lines of zigzags, or some other random drawings (including a drawing of one of the professors with fangs and breathing fire, which drew a chuckle from Elphaba), and Elphaba threw them away.

Fiyero went to the washroom after he had finished his breakfast and tried to tease Elphaba.

"I'm going to wash my hands, Elphaba. " He said in a singsong tone. "Are you coming?"

"The 'following' excludes washroom," she told him as she frowned at the piece of paper she was holding.

"You're really not coming? I'm just going to wash my hands, nothing rated."

Elphaba quickly rolled up the piece of paper into a ball and aimed at him. The ball hit the closing washroom door and bounced off and she could hear the prince laughing inside. "You didn't get me!"

After he came out from the washroom, they continue to sit there, Elphaba doing work, Fiyero watching, for quite some time, until the prince announced. "This is boring. It is such a good day, too good to be spent indoors."

"What?" Elphaba, who was, at that moment, trying to identify the subject of the piece of badly scribbled paper in her hand, replied absentmindedly.

"Let's go out! There is some place that I want to go." He jumped up with excitement.

"What? Where?" She asked, still half engrossed in the sorting work.

Fiyero quickly grabbed a backpack, and started stuffing some stuff inside – some clothes, some big towels, and a big water bottle which he filled with water from the jug on his table.

"Come on," he said, getting all hyped up. "You are supposed to follow me wherever I go right?"

"But where are we going?" She asked.

"You will find out soon enough. Just rest assured that it is nowhere sleazy." He looked at what she was wearing – her usual black dress, and boots. "This will do," he told her.

They went to the cafeteria where Fiyero grabbed some sandwiches and fruits for lunch. She then followed him as they walked out of the Shiz campus.

"Where are we going?" Elphaba asked.

"You'll find out soon," he told her again.

There was a hilly forest quite a distance behind Shiz, and Elphaba found the two of them going towards that direction. She had never been there before.

"We're going to the hills?" She asked. He had never struck her as the nature kind of people.

"Bingo," he told her.

They walked onwards, and Elphaba thanked goodness that she was wearing her boots. She imagined Galinda doing the same trek, in her fashion heels, and had to smile at that image.

As they went near to the edge of the forest, Elphaba began to notice that there were some places where the growth was less sparse, forming what seemed like a path into the depths of the forest.

"Do you come here often?" She asked.

"Me. And other people. This place is not exactly a secret." He told her.

They walked into the forest, and Elphaba immediately felt a coolness as the sunlight was blocked by the tall looming trees. Fiyero gestured towards a half-seen path up the hill, and two made their way up.

Elphaba had been carrying the backpack all the while, and Fiyero took over. "You will need all your energy to climb up," he told her.

As they made their way up the hill, the terrain became steeper. At certain places, Fiyero would turned back and stretch out his hand for Elphaba. She refused his hand the first time, but after a near slip, she swallowed her pride and took his hand whenever it was offered.

The path disappeared sometimes, but Fiyero seemed to know the way well, going up, or turning left or right, before they picked up the trail again. While they did not see any animals, Elphaba could hear the sounds of some birds singing, and the sounds of crickets and other insects.

"Am I hearing things?" She asked, after they had climbed for what seemed like a long time.

"What did you hear?" Fiyero asked.

"I heard the sound of running water," she told him.

Fiyero smiled. "You have very good hearing. We're almost there."

Another few turns, and they reached a plateau.

There was a clearing, and in front of them, was a waterfall falling from a great height. Behind the waterfall was a tall rock formation, with vines all around (and two bright yellow birds fluttering their wings around the vines). The waterfall fell into a stream, which wind around and disappear to the forest at the side. Near to the base of the waterfall, erosion had created a natural pool of clear water. On the right side, the clearing ended on a cliff.

Elphaba was speechless for some time.

"It's beautiful," she finally said, her tiredness forgotten.

"And look here," Fiyero said, pulling her to the edge of the cliff. She looked down, and saw below them, trees, miniature houses and buildings, and roads. Shiz, with its distinctive architecture, was easily recognizable among the buildings.

"There," Fiyero pointed out, "is my room. I was looking out of my window one day with my binoculars, and thought I saw this clearing in the middle of the hill. So one day, I just came over and explore. Few people know about this, and whoever that do, came, but tried to leave the place as undisturbed as possible. " He explained.

Fiyero took out a large towel from his backpack and laid it on the grassy ground. He then proceeded to take off his boots, and put each shoe on two of the corners of the towel. Elphaba did the same, thus effectively stopping any wind from pulling the towel away.

"What are you doing?" She asked, startled, when he started taking off his clothes.

"Swimming, of course. The water is cooling, and clean," he told her. "Are you joining?"

Elphaba shook her head. She did not know how to swim, but she was not going to tell him.

Fiyero continued to strip off his clothes, until only a pair of shorts was left. Elphaba, by then, had turned her back to him, not wanting to see, but she could already felt her cheeks flushing, the image of his bare chest and its vividly blue diamond tattoos imprinted into her mind.

She heard the sound of him getting into the water before she turned back again. He was swimming the length of the stream gracefully. She sat down on the towel and looked at him for a while, admiring (without admitting to herself) the way his muscles moved easily as they carried him in the water as if swimming was second nature to him.

After a while, Elphaba looked into the backpack. To her delight, she found her book among the clothes and food. She took it out, and started reading, while enjoying the gentle breeze and the sound of the water lapping against the shore.


	5. Chapter 5 Splash

**Chapter 5 Splash**

**A/N Thank you SailorSea, HollyBush, musicGal3,Tayna and Elizabeth for the reviews. :) And to those that add this story as favorite! :)**

**SailorSea... if Elphaba is allergic to water, this will be the last chapter, so thank goodness she is not (in this fanfic)! :P**

She had no idea how long it was when she realized her name was being called. She looked up, to see that Fiyero had climbed onto the rocks next to the waterfall, and was standing on a rock jutting out from the surface.

"Look!" He shouted, as like a child showing off. Before Elphaba could call out a warning, he jumped off, did a somersault in mid-air, and then hit the water with a loud splash.

Her heart still in her throat, Elphaba sat frozen, before she realized that he never came up for air. She quickly pushed herself off the towel, and run over to the edge of the water where she had last seen him entering the water.

She saw him at the bottom of the crystal clear water, his face down, his limbs stretched out, motionless. He must have hit his head when he dived in.

Panic caught hold of her. All Elphaba could hear is her heart pounding as she quickly looked around. She had no idea how deep was the water, but she knew that she had to get to him somehow. She grabbed one of the vines on the ground, and started letting herself into the water. The cold water lapped at her ankles, and then at the hem of her dress, and she felt herself being dragged down by the heaviness of her soaked dress.

She reached the end of the vine, and she looked back, trying to see if she could tug at the vine to lengthen it somehow, when she felt something grab her other hand.

She felt herself letting go of the vine with a shout and falling into the water, drinking water. And she heard laughter.

Somehow, she found herself turned around to see Fiyero, his hair wet and plastered onto his head, laughing. "Now you're wet." He told her.

She struggled. Once. Twice. And as she sunk into water, she saw Fiyero's jaw opened when he realized that she could not swim.

Before her head went under, she tried to get a gulp of air. She only half succeeded, and took in some water. It went into her lungs. The water hurt her eyes and she shut them.

It felt like eternity, but was most probably seconds, when she felt a strong arm wrapped around her, and then the feeling of cutting through water, before she could feel cool air around her face, and then she tried to open her eyes.

Fiyero was next to her, his arms around her back, and holding her at her side, pressing her to his side, as he swam to the shore. She had no idea when, but her hands were wrapped his neck.

As they reached the shores, Fiyero stood up, and still pulling her against him, half dragged and supported her to the towel. He lowered her onto the towel, and then quickly took out another towel and wrapped around the now shivering Elphaba and tried to towel her dry at the same time.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know you cannot swim," he apologized to her.

Elphaba caught hold of the towel when he was done drying her face, and started to rub the towel on her limbs.

"I'll do it," she sputtered. He gave a nod, and then dug into the backpack again, taking out some dry clothes which he put next to her. "For you," he told her, "Get out of your wet clothes. I'll go over to the other side."

With that, he took the clothes that he had taken off before the swim and then walked to the other end where Elphaba had lowered herself into the water before, and changed out of his wet shorts into dry clothes.

Elphaba quickly turned her back to him, pull out her wet dress. The dry clothes given to her was a dark long sleeves top with pants, and after some deliberation, she took off her wet underwear too (not before double checking if Fiyero was peeping at her, which he was not), then changed into what obviously was Fiyero's clothes. It felt strange to be wearing someone else's clothes, but it was definitely a better alternative to wearing her wet clothes.

After she was done, she turned around. Fiyero was standing back to her, staring off into space. She laid out her wet clothes on some nearby rocks, taking care to partially cover her wet underwear with her wet dress. She then walked towards the prince. She had, in her mind, to lecture him about pulling that prank on her, but the words left her mind, when he spun around upon hearing her footsteps, and she saw the concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She nodded, unable to speak.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized again, "I thought that everyone knew how to swim. Why didn't you mention it before?" He led her back to the towel, leading her by her elbow.

"Nobody ever asked," was all she could say. As if she would reveal her secret if anyone would ask.

They sat down on the towel, and Fiyero took out the sandwiches and water while they waited for the clothes to dry (no way was she going back to Shiz wearing HIS clothes). As he passed one sandwich to her, he took a look at her, and said, "your hair."

"What?"

Fiyero smiled. "Your hair. They are wet, but they are still braided."

"Oh," was all Elphaba could say, as she quickly put down the sandwich and remove her rubber band. She then run her fingers through her braids to loosen them. When she was done, she noticed that Fiyero had been looking at her intently, his sandwich forgotten.

"Yes?" She asked.

Fiyero gave another of his smile. "Nothing, I was just thinking that you have very nice hair. You should let them down more often."

"And let the wind blow them around and blocked my view? No thank you." She told him.

Fiyero laughed. "Ever the practical Elphaba."

They ate their sandwiches in silence, enjoying each other company without talking. Fiyero then asked her a question.

"Why don't you learn how to swim? I can teach you if you want to." He asked.

"You?" Elphaba raised her eyebrows.

Fiyero quickly jumped up and took a deep bow. "Yes, me. Prince Fiyero Tiggular, Prince Charming of Shiz, at your service."

Elphaba laughed. "You? Why?"

Fiyero quickly sat down again, his legs crossed, this time in front her so that their faces are just inches apart, his face solemn. "Because you are my friend, Elphaba Thropp. I will be very sad if you drown one day just because no one ever teaches you how to swim. We still have 3 weeks. I am sure I can teach you how to swim before the 3 weeks are up."

Elphaba looked at him. The usually playful prince looked serious.

"There's more to you than meets the eye, Tiggular."

"I'm glad you notice."


	6. Chapter 6 A Present

**Chapter 6 A present**

**A/N Thank you to musicgal3, musicalvampirelove, allthingscute, and HollyBush for the reviews. HollyBush, yes, my tenses can terrible sometimes. Will try to improve!**

**Nothing much this chapter... **

When Elphaba went back to the dorm that evening, she was thoroughly exhausted with the day's activites. It was just before dinnertime when Elphaba reached her room, and as promised, Galinda was waiting for her.

"How was slave day 1?" She asked the moment Elphaba closed the door.

"Tiring," was all she could said. She wondered if she should tell Galinda about the trip to the waterfall, and decided not to.

"You know. Boq and I are discussing about this today. Why don't we go to town tomorrow? I would like to do some shopping, and if you come along, you won't have to do whatever you did in his room today."

"Filing, Galinda,filing, " Elphaba said the half-truth as she laid down on her bed, her eyes almost closed.

Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep, and no amount of shaking from Galinda could wake her up. The tiny blonde then went to the cafeteria for dinner with Pfannee and ShenShen.

The next day was bright and sunny. Boq, Galinda, Fiyero, Elphaba and Nessarose went to town. Going to town with Nessarose is always a big affair, as they would need to hire a carriage that is big enough for her wheelchair, and the boys will do the hard work of lifting the wheelchair up into the carriage and then bring down (Elphaba would carry Nessarose). Due to that, Nessarose's friends rarely asked her to go to town with them.

While the boys will usually go and do their own things, the girls usually go together, due to the wheelchair. They had their routine – Elphaba will usually push the wheelchair. They would all go in if the shop had aisles wide enough for the wheelchair to go through, otherwise, Elphaba would stay outside with Nessarose, while Galinda would go in and source for whatever Nessarose was looking for. She would bring out the item to the shopfront and showed Nessarose. Between Nessarose's experience in shopping without trying out, and Galinda's keen eye for details and sizes, the two girls never got a size wrong for the wheelchair-bound girl.

When the friends met a few hours later, Galinda had a few shopping bags, Nessarose had bought a dress and a necklace, while Elphaba and Boq had bought a book each. They sat down on a coffee shop at the corner, and ordered some drinks while they waited for Fiyero to come back.

Galinda had given Elphaba a sunhat with a wide rim after they had become close friends, and Elphaba had used this hat to partly cover her face on their trips to town. This day was no exception. It provided a shade for her face, and unless any passerby had looked carefully, they would not have noticed that the girl with the hat, and long sleeve dress and boots had green skin.

While they waited for Fiyero, Elphaba started to read her new book, her messenger bag on the floor. The seat next to her was empty.

Soon after, Fiyero appeared, sliding onto the seat next to her. He had a few shopping bags with him too, and Elphaba thought that she saw him putting something inside her messenger bag when he placed his shopping bags down on the ground between them.

She looked at him, and he gave her a wink, before turning back to the rest of the group and apologising about forgetting about the time.

The group of friends decided to have an early dinner there before heading back to Shiz.

Back in the dorm, Elphaba had her usual quick shower while Galinda took her time to remove her accessories and make up. And as per their usual routine, the girls would talk (or rather, Galinda would do most of the talking, while Elphaba listened) when they took turns to shower.

When it was Galinda's turn to go into the bathroom, she was still talking about some of the dresses that she had seen and liked, but did not buy.

The moment Elphaba heard the sound of water running, she opened up her messenger bag and looked inside. Besides her usual thing, was something wrapped in dark paper wrapper, to protect the contents inside, and yet not adding bulk. Elphaba took out the item, while Galinda continued to talk in the shower.

"And the lady said, they only made two pieces for each colour, and the last pink piece was bought by the customer who had left five minutes ago. Gosh, how I wish I had gotten there earlier and bought that dress. The only colour that was left was black, and as you know, black does not suit me."

"Black does not suit you," Elphaba matched Galinda word by word, as she unwrapped the paper. Inside was a dark blue long sleeve swimwear with long bloomers, and a hastily scribbled note.

_You're going to start your first swimming lesson next week! Hope this will give you the _(some scratching off here as Fiyero tried to write the word motivate)_hope you will like this. I think the size will fit. Wear before you leave your room. F.T._

Elphaba smiled at the note. She stood up, and place the swimsuit against her body. He was right, it seemed to fit. For a moment, she wished that Galinda was not in the room so that she could quickly go into the bathroom and changed. At the sound of the running water stopping, Elphaba quickly stuffed the clothes and the wrapper under her bed, which she knew Galinda would never look.

Galinda went out of the shower, scrunching her wet golden curls with her towel so that they will remain bouncy, "…. wish I had not eaten that second cake, now I think I am so full I cannot sleep."

"It is still hours away from bedtime, Galinda. I am sure you would have digested that cake then," Elphaba told her.

"Maybe," she sounded doubtful. The blonde then jumped onto Elphaba's bed and peeked at the book she was reading. "Sweet Oz! Why are you reading the textbook now?"

"I didn't have much time to study these two days so I am doing catching up," she lied, though the truth was that that was the first book within reach when Galinda suddenly came out of the bathroom.

"Poor Elphie. I will leave you here with your book. I am going over to show ShenShen and Pfannee the new clothes that I have bought." With that, Galinda left the room her bags of new conquests.

Elphaba waited for a while longer just to be sure that her roommate would not come back (perhaps due to one shopping bag being missed out), before she took the swimwear from underneath her bed and quickly went to the bathroom to try it out. The swimwear was fitting length-wise, but as she was thinner than most people, it was not clinging to her body, while Elphaba was grateful for. Having satisfied her curiosity, she quickly changed out of the swimwear and hid it under her bed again, to be taken out again only the next weekend.


	7. Chapter 7 Swimming

**Chapter 7 Swimming**

**A/N thank you to musicgal3, MoonlightMirrors for musicalvampirelove for the reviews for chapter 6. This is going to be a uneventful chapter and it is very obvious that I know nuts about swimming (I need a Fiyero to teach me :P) **

**Thank you to HollyBush for your review on Need you Now, I chose that name because it sounded like a name that Fiyero will hate (yes, the family name is from that movie)**

The school week started with Elphaba following Fiyero to three of his classes – Calculus (she could do Maths problems with her eyes closed), Economics and Fundamental Law. When confronted by the first professor in the Calculus class she had gate crashed, Fiyero came out with a story.

"Professor, recently I had been telling Elphaba how interesting your lessons are. She loved what I told her so much that she cannot wait till next semester to sign up for your class, so she decided to come now."

To the next professor, "She had heard that you will be leaving after this term, and decided to take this class unofficially because she knows the next professor will definitely be not as good."

To the last professor, "she is an exchange student." And when the professor knew Elphaba by her name, "oh, you mean you have seen her around the campus before?"

"You're really good in coming up with stories," Elphaba whispered to Fiyero, mildly amused.

"Thank you, it's an inborn talent," he whispered back to her.

In class, Fiyero would either daydream or doodle. She tried taking away his pencil, but that only resulted in no note being taken (compared to one or two notes being taken). She even tried grabbing the top of the pencil that he was holding whenever he started doodling to stop him, but Fiyero only switched to a shorter pencil when he had the opportunity so that there was no place for her to grab, short of grabbing _his_ hand.

"Pay attention," she hissed at him.

"Make me," he grinned at her.

"What's the use of me sitting in when you do not intend to pay attention?"

"I will pay attention if you are teaching. They are just too boring," Fiyero told her.

Elphaba could only roll her eyes.

Elphaba found the classes easy to understand even though she had not attended the lessons prior to these. And Fiyero was impressed when she was able to coach him and make him understand using her own explanation.

"You should be a teacher," he told her.

She shook her head. "I don't have the patience."

"Well, you are patiently teaching me now."

"You are only one student, Fiyero. Imagine one whole class of you, all not listening."

He tried imaging that, but could not, mainly because he was unable to imagine a classroom filled with many other equally good looking guys, even if they were him too. He admitted to her as much, which made her laugh.

She tried to talk to him again. "Come on, Fiyero. I know you are not stupid. That B- proved it. You can do it if you put your mind into it."

He whined. "But there's no incentive." And then he grinned. "Or maybe all I need is another bet. Are you in a betting mood again, Elphaba?"

She groaned.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The weekend came quickly. On that morning, Elphaba changed into the swimsuit underneath and a dress on top, and packed her own towels and extra clothing inside her own backpack. She then went to Fiyero's room with his breakfast.

The prince was already awake when she arrived. He accepted the breakfast with thanks, and then Elphaba did some of the filing done halfway the week while he had his breakfast. He had told her not to, but since she was supposed to be the 'servant', Elphaba thought that she had better kept to her end of the bargain and do some 'servant work'.

After Fiyero had finished their breakfast, they went over to the cafeteria again to get some sandwiches and fruits and started on their journey.

Fiyero lined out some concepts about swimming to Elphaba while they walked to the forest. He told her that she should not fear the water, as the phobia will cause her to panic.

"Easier said than done, " she told him. "Considering that I was the one who nearly drowned last week."

"I saved you, didn't I? And today I will be right by your side, so don't worry." He assured her.

They climbed up the hill, with Fiyero leading the way as usual, and soon reached the waterfall. As with the previous week, they had the whole place to themselves. Fiyero laid down a big towel and they put their boots at the four corners to weigh it down again.

Despite the fact that Elphaba already had her swimsuit underneath her clothes, she was still shy about it, and went to a corner to remove her clothes, with her back facing the prince. She took off her dress and when she turned around, Fiyero was already in his shorts, waiting for her.

"Suits you," he said, as he appraised her in the swimwear.

Elphaba blushed, and wrapped her arms around her chest, which made him laughed.

"Come on, Elphaba, don't be so shy. You can't swim with your arms crossed like this. Relax," he told her as he led her to the edge of the water. Holding her outstretched hands, they walked into the water, with him facing her. When she was on stable footing, he walked towards her, and started to instruct her on the techniques. She flinched when he touched her, but he reassured her, and they tried again. He then taught her the position to maintain while swimming, and how to kick her legs. After that, he let her stand up again, and taught her how to 'blow bubbles' – how to take in the air, hold the air inside, or to let out the air bit by bit so that she had enough air in her lungs while she was underwater.

After that, he started her on the 'swimming' by holding her outstretched hands and pulling her along while she tried to kick using her legs. After a few rounds, he added the breathing – she was supposed to take in air, and then put her head into the water to blow out the air before coming up for air again.

This went on for the rest of the morning, and then they break for lunch, before continuing in the afternoon. By the time the sun was setting, Fiyero's skin red as a cooked lobster, while Elphaba, whose green skin somehow would not get sunburnt, was able to swim a bit by herself.

"You are a fast learner," he complimented her as they got out of the pool.

"You are a good teacher," she told him. "I feel less scared of the open water now."

"Good. But having said that, please remember that you are still not able to swim by yourself, so please stay away from the water bodies, and always have me around when you want to swim."

"Yes, coach."

The two of them go their own separate ways, each to one corner of the clearing, and with their back facing each other, quickly stripped off their wet clothing and changed into dry ones. After Elphabe was dressed, she turned around, and as expected, Fiyero, who was already dressed, was just looking at the waterfall as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"I'm ready," she told him, and it was only then that he turned around.

They stuffed their wet clothings into their individual bags, since there was no time to dry the clothing, and then made their way back to their dorms where the rest were waiting for them for dinner.


	8. Chapter 8 Coffee

**Chapter 8 Coffee**

**A/N Wow! Suddenly I got people reviewing from chapter 1 again. Thanks! **

**Thank you whole lot of you - Cythnia, musicgal3, MoonlightMirrors, Hollow'sXmas, musicalvampirelove**

**MoonlightMirrors, I hope your friend is good looking like Fiyero. :P**

**Hollow'sXmas, this Fiyero is human since it is Shiz-era. Ditto for Need you now. But are you asking about all fanfic, the musical or the book?**

**musicgal3, thanks for reviewing Need You Now! :) A full multi-chapter for that? Wow... think that will be at least 30 chapters... I have a few stories in mind. Will look into that when I am done with the current set of ideas in my head..**

Elphaba overslept on Sunday, a sign that her body had worked too hard the day before. When she woke up, she could hear Galinda talking to someone.

"Oh my goodness! What time is it?"

"Not too late, actually," a familiar male voice replied. Elphaba looked towards the door. Galinda was next to the door that was slightly opened, with Fiyero poking his head in.

"Good morning," he said gaily. "I got breakfast for both of you." He lifted up his right hand with two doggie bags as proof.

"That's very wonderful of you!" Galinda squealed with delight.

"Don't let him come in, Galinda!" Elphaba told her roommate. "I am still in my sleepwear."

Galinda nodded her head, took over the two doggie bags, and tried to push Fiyero's head out of the door. "It's rude to see a lady in her sleepwear," she told him.

Fiyero gave a wide grin. "Alright, I shall be a gentleman and leave. Elphie?"

"Don't call me Elphie, " Elphaba replied.

"Come over after breakfast, the filing is not done yet."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, but by then Fiyero had gotten his head out of the room.

Galinda closed the door.

"Breakfast delivery!" She repeated again, with delight.

Elphaba climbed out of her bed and went to brush her teeth.

"Why are you so tired, Elphie?" Galinda asked as she looked into the first doggie bag," Oh goody! Blueberry muffins and hot cocoa! You know, if I didn't know better I would have thought that the two of you have some secret affair which leave you exhausified."

Elphaba nearly choked on her toothpaste when she heard that.

"Galinda!"

"Calm down, Elphie, you know that I am just joking. Oh, cinnamon muffin and black coffee for you!" She switched between the two topics flawlessly. "He does know our food preferences. And... I don't know, I can't see much with the sun behind him, but I though he looked sunburnt today."

"Is it? Maybe he went moon tanning last night," Elphaba lied, only remembering after the words came out from her mouth that it was a new moon last night.

"Maybe," Galinda said, oblivious to the fact that there was no moon for tanning last night.

Elphaba came out dressed in her usual dark colour dress, and the two girls enjoyed their breakfast in the room.

"So what are your plans for today?" Elphaba asked her blonde friend.

"I might be going out with ShenShen. Its Pfannee's birthday soon, and we have not gotten anything for her."

Elphaba could only replied a "oh." It never ceased to amaze her how Galinda could keep the two groups of friends and yet not lost her popularity with anyone. Her clique of girlfriends still did not like Elphaba very much, but when Galinda was around, they would stop making snide remarks about the green skinned girl. Galinda seemed to bring that peaceful effect to everyone. Elphaba wondered how she did it, but realized that most probably Galinda did not even do it consciously.

After breakfast, Galinda started to prepare herself for her shopping trip, while Elphaba walked across the campus to the boys dorm again.

She reached the room to find it messier than the week before. Not only were the notes still on the floor, there are vinyl discs on the table.

"And I thought it could never get messier," she greeted the prince, who could only grinned in return.

"No worries, I am sure this is not a big problem for you."

"Thank you for the breakfast, by the way. And for remembering our food preferences."

"You're welcome. It is quite easy to remember actually. Galinda is sweet like cocoa with milk, and you are …. " Fiyero trailed off.

"I'm what? Bitter like coffee?" Elphaba asked, slightly sarcastic, as she sat down on the floor and started on the filing.

"Coffee is a personal preference. Some people like it with milk, some people like it dark. I personally like black coffee. Some would say its bitter, but it is only when you take it without milk that you can really taste the aroma of the beans." There was a pause before he continued. "Drinking coffee is like dating a girl. I like to go beyond the fashionable dresses, the makeup, the giggles. Just fall in love with a girl for who she really is rather than the frills."

Elphaba was looking at the notes when he said that last sentence, but there was something in his voice that made her look up. He was looking at her, and there was something about his intensity that made her blushed, and she quickly looked away and looked at the notes again, hoping that he did not see the darkening of her cheeks. She did not even manage to formulate a reply.

There was this awkward silence that followed. Elphaba sorted through the papers. After attending his classes for a week, she had an idea whenever she sees some scribbling, and no longer need to check with Fiyero on which subject that piece of paper belongs to.

By the time she had finished with the filing, it was past time for lunch. She thought she heard what was Fiyero's stomach growling, and looked at him.

He laughed sheepishly. "Yes, I'm hungry. Let' go for lunch."

They went to the nearest cafeteria. As most of the students had had their lunch, the place was almost empty. They ordered their food, and found a seat near to the windows. Over lunch, Fiyero talked to her about his country, the lifestyle and politics there, how it differs from the Wizard's reign. Elphaba listened, and asked her questions. It was very interesting to her how the two places, though geographically side by side, could be so different in terms of climate, culture and politics.

One thing that was of particular interest to her, was that Vinkus had showed no sign in following the wizard in imposing Animal Banns. And Fiyero assured her there was no plan to do so to the best of his knowledge.

They talked about other things, life in Shiz compared to life in other universities (Fiyero had lots of experience in that aspect) and his childhood. While Fiyero was a prince, his upbringing, was, in his words, normal like any other household. He told her childhood stories of him playing hide and seek, fighting with other kids and his first time consuming alcohol ("I was throwing up so much I thought I was going to die."). Elphaba laughed at his stories. She was relieved that he did not probe her about her childhood. The group of friends knew about her mother's early demise, and she had no wish to talk about that again.

They then moved on to other topics, and before they knew it, there were students coming in for dinner.

"Oz! Look at the time," she cried, amazed at how fast the time passed.

Fiyero smiled. "Well, seemed that we cannot start work on the music records this week," he said as they cleared their own trays. "We can always do it next week."

They walked and talked at the same time, and before Elphaba knew it, they were at the door to her room, when she did not even notice that they were walking in that general direction. Elpbaba noticed the light streaming out from underneath the door, and realized that Galinda must be back from her shopping trip.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he told her as she opened the door. Elphaba smiled. "Yes, tomorrow."


	9. Chapter 9 Scuffle

**Chapter 9 Scuffle**

**A/N Thank you James Birdsong, musicgal3, PocketSevens and musicalvampirelove for reviewing chapter 8…. Musicalvampirelove, why won't Galinda be happy?**

The next few days brought heavy rains to Shiz, and it was not until Friday when the skies cleared again.

Fiyero gave a bright smile when he walked out of the classroom and saw that the sun was out.

"Fabulous," he said to no one in particular.

"Fabulous?" Elphaba raised her eyebrows as she stood next to him.

"Isn't it? The sun is finally out after so many days. For a while, I thought that it will rain beyond the weekend." He gave his companion a smile. "And rain means no swimming," he added, lowering his voice to ensure that no one else could hear him.

Fiyero grabbed her hand. "Come on, it's a fine, fine day and it is a waste to spend it indoors."

"Where are we going?" Elphaba asked.

He brought her to the Suicide Canal, and Elphaba found a rock to sit on, while Fiyero sat on the grass in front of her.

"Fiyero, revision. Remember?" She waved his textbook at him.

"I'm bored. Give me some time to relax. And I need the sun."

"And to think everyone thought that I was the green one," Elphaba said sarcastically.

Fiyero laughed. "You know, you can be quite witty sometimes."

"That was not wittiness, Your Royal Highness."

Fiyero ignored her as he tore out a piece of writing paper from his writing pad and started folding it into a paper plane. Lifting his hand, he sent the paper plane flying across the canal, landing on the other side with ample space to spare.

"Impressive," Elphaba told him.

He grinned. "Same theory as throwing a spear. Or shooting an arrow. I know how to do it. Just don't ask me to calculate the angles and the energy required."

He sent another paper plane across the canal before he lay down on the grass with his head on one arm and looked up at her.

"Will you miss this when it is over?"

"Miss what? Shiz?" Elphaba was confused by the change of topic.

"This. Doing things together." He gestured, swinging his index finger between the two of them.

"Fiyero, we have been doing things together since you made your grand entrance to Shiz." She reminded him.

"No. I mean just the two of us. You and me."

"You and …." Elphaba was cut off by someone calling.

"Elphie!" The two of them turned to see Galinda and Boq walking towards them.

"Sweet Oz! What are the two of you doing under the hot sun?" Galinda asked, fanning herself with one of her textbooks.

"The 'plant' wants to enjoy the sun," Elphaba replied, pointing to Fiyero.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sky was clear on Saturday and the two of them went to the waterfall again.

Fiyero went through the steps again with her before letting her swim on her own. But he stayed at her side throughout.

"You can swim off if you want to," she told him.

He shook his head. "I can't leave you on your own yet."

"You're babying me."

"You're my responsibility. Besides, the only thing that I want to do here is to climb up and jump back into the water and I don't think you want me to do that."

Elphaba groaned. "Please don't. You might not be so lucky this time round."

"Now who's doing the babying now?" He told her teasingly.

They swam for a while longer. Fiyero corrected her here and then, but was quite satisfied with the progress that she had made.

"I think that's enough for today," he told her.

"Can I swim for a while longer?" She asked him. But he shook his head. "But this is fun," she pleaded.

Fiyero laughed. "Alright, just a little while longer."

As they emerged from the forest, Fiyero suggested that they went to this newly open café just outside Shiz for late lunch as they had not eaten.

"And I heard that they served some pretty good finger food," he told her.

"Which means that the place will definitely be crowded," Elphaba reminded him.

The two made their way there, and sure enough, the place was almost full despite it being late afternoon. They saw quite a few students from Shiz, and also many customers who came from outside.

Fiyero spotted an empty table and they sat down. The café owners had placed the menus on the table and so they could decide on the food before joining the queue.

Fiyero told her to sit while he joined the queue to order their food. Elphaba sat, glad for the chance to rest her legs which were tired after swimming the whole morning. She had to admit that, after the initial fears, the whole swimming thing went well, and she thoroughly enjoyed her newfound freedom in the waters.

She looked around the surroundings. The café had metal garden chairs and tables painted a bronze colour, which matched the colour of the trees surrounding the place. There was a gentle breeze and Elphaba used a hand to bring all her wet hair over her right shoulder to the front and then absentmindedly gave it a few turns so that the strands will not fly in the breeze.

She then turned to look at the people queuing for the food. Fiyero was third in line and she found the prince looking at her. She smiled at him, and he waved back, and then he looked at the floor, as if fascinated by something he found there.

Elphaba turned back and continued to look at the surroundings.

"Hello, what do we have here?" She heard a voice close to her. Too close.

Elphaba turned to see someone whom she did not know. He looked older by a few years, so most likely he was not from Shiz. Someone from town perhaps. She realized too late that she was not wearing her hat, and her green skin was there for everyone to see.

"A green girl!" The stranger said, "But a pretty green girl at that. Tell me, pretty, are you a tree fairy from the nearby forest?" The man sat down on the empty seat next to her, and pulled his chair closer to her. Elphaba turned to look for Fiyero but he was placing their orders and had not noticed what was happening. She shrunk back from the man. She was used to attention, the kind in which other people talked behind her, or called her names, or stared. Not this kind. The man laughed at her discomfort, then leaned even closer to her. Elphaba tried to stand up and walked away, but the man stood up too and grabbed her wrist.

"Too high class to be friends with me?" He asked, sneering.

Elphaba tried to twist her hand to get out of his grip, but he tightened his grip, hurting her.

"Let go of me," she told him, trying to twist her hand to get out, but the man tightened his grip again.

Just then, she heard a familiar voice. "Let go of the girl."

She looked up and saw Fiyero.

"Get lost, Winkie," the man retorted. "Mind your own business."

"Her business is my business."

"Are you looking for a fight?" He challenged the prince, as he released his grip on Elphaba.

"My pleasure," was Fiyero's reply, as he rolled up his sleeves.

By then, a crowd had gathered to watch. Some of them had even started cheering. The man was bigger size than Fiyero, but Fiyero was taller, and it was hard to guess who would win when it came to a fight.

That man threw the first fist and aimed for Fiyero's face, but Fiyero managed to turn sideways and let the other party overshot and crashed onto a table. The opponent stood up almost immediately again, ready for another round.

Just then, the owner came out and stopped them from going any further.

"Go elsewhere if you want to fight," he told them. "Or I will call the security." Some of the crowd dispersed, disappointed that the scuffle was over so soon.

Both men were still edging to continue, but Elphaba stood behind Fiyero and asked him to stop. "Fiyero, forget it. Let's go."

Fiyero turned and saw the worried look on her face. He nodded his head and swung both their bags over his shoulders, before he grabbed her hand and walked away, but not before giving the other person another glare.

As they walked back to Shiz, Fiyero was silent, his face black. Elphaba had to call him a few times before he heard her. It was only then that he seemed to remember that he was still gripping her hand tightly.

"I'm sorry," he said. He turned her hand around and saw the bruise that was beginning to form on her wrist.

"That bastard," he swore as he released her hand and turned as if he wanted to go back for another fight.

Elphaba stretched out her hand to stop him.

"Fiyero, stop. I don't want you to go back there. What if you get hurt?" She asked him. She touched his arm gently. "I don't want you to get hurt."

That seemed to do the trick, as Fiyero's face softened. "I'll walk you back to your room."

Elphaba nodded her head, glad that he no longer intended to go back for another round.

They walked in silence for a while, before Elphaba broke the silence.

"Fiyero?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for standing up for me. No one had ever done that for me."

Fiyero stopped and looked at her. "That's not 'standing up' for you. That is called protecting you. And like it or not, I will do it again whenever the need arises."


	10. Chapter 10 Music In the Air

**Chapter 10 Music in the air**

**A/N : I know nothing about gramophones, records and waltzing. Googling helps, but all mistakes are mine. **

**Thank you to F-L-T-F, Aren, PocketSevens, HollyBush, musicgal3 and musicalvampirelove for your reviews! **

**PocketSevens – A Gloq? Cannot imagine that (I still remember the Wicked book where Boq had to climb up to kiss Galinda, he is way too short for her! :P)**

**Aren, the Wicked that I had watched had David Harris as Fiyero. I wished it was Adam Lambert though :P**

**Two more chapters to go after this. Hope to see more reviews!**

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first thing that Fiyero did when he saw Elphaba the next day was to check on her wrist. He had massaged the bruise once they were back in Shiz the day before and he thought that it looked slightly better today.

He made her sit on his bed, while he pulled up his chair to face her. Elphaba looked at him while he massaged the bruise again, thinking to herself how deft he was with his fingers.

"So Galinda didn't notice this?" He asked her after he was done. Elphaba had made him promise not to tell anyone about the incident.

Elphaba shook her head. "I didn't tell her. I don't want her to worry about something that had already happened."

"But it is such a big bruise," he commented, turning her hand from front to back to front again as he held her hand in his. "How could she have missed it?"

She chuckled. "That's because she does not play with my hand the way you do." She smiled a little to herself. A few weeks ago, she would never have imagined that she would ever be alone in the same room as the prince, let alone letting him hold her hands as if it was second nature. She said her thanks, and then stood up and said, "I'm all ready for work. What shall I do today?"

Fiyero looked up at her for a while before he waved to the piles of black round discs that were still on the floor.

"The records."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Most of the records had not been touched for a long time, and there was a layer of fine dust on many of them. Fiyero used a brush to sweep off the dust, and then he would pass the disc to Elphaba who would wipe it with a clean soft cloth. The discs were a mess, with some without covers, and some covers without contents, and some with the wrong covers, and so they would have to match the records with their respective covers after the cleaning them.

"Mundane work does seem to be more fun when someone is doing it with you," Fiyero commented as he passed her yet another disc.

Elphaba shook her head.

"How did you manage to create this mess in such a short time?" She asked him.

"It's an inborn talent," he told her cheekily. Then after a while, he admitted, "actually they have been like this in the university that I had attended prior to Shiz. I just transported the whole mess from one school to another."

"And how did you get expelled from the other school?" She asked.

"Turning up drunk for class," he confessed.

"I supposed you didn't really learn your lesson. If my memory did not fail me, you still turned up hungover for some classes in Shiz." Elphaba reminded him.

"Which is not that often, if your memory serves you well," he defended himself. "I'm trying my best to cut down."

She smiled at him indulgently and then had to remind herself he was right. It had been a long time since she had seen him in that state in class, except for that morning when he took the test that had own him the bet. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Was he really turning into a responsible young adult?

"So your usual charms did not get you off the hook?" She asked, referring to his expulsion.

"Well, that was different. That class was taught by the disciplinary master, and on that day, one of the school's sponsors came into the class for a surprise visit."

Elphaba laughed. It sounded too much like a bad joke.

Just then, Fiyero held up a record in his hand. "I've found it!"

"What is that?" Elphaba asked.

"This is one of my favorite music. My teacher back in Vinkus used this record when he taught me how to waltz. "

"Waltz?"

"Yes, waltz. You know, ballroom dancing? I am a prince. And princes do attend social functions where dancing is required. It won't do if I turned up in a formal function and danced as if I got two left feet."

Like me, Elphaba thought.

"Come on, let's dance," Fiyero jumped up excitedly and put the record onto the gramophone and wind it up. A soft melodic waltz music came out of the machine. Elphaba remembered when they used to have one of these gramophones at home when she was young. But it broke soon after her mother's death and was never fixed nor replaced.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" Fiyero asked with a deep bow, and then stretched out his left hand to her.

"You want to dance with someone with two left feet?" She asked him, her right hand reaching out to his subconsciously.

"Two left feet? We'll see," he told her as he pulled her up from her sitting position. He then positioned her one left hand on his shoulder, while he clasped her right hand. His other hand was placed gently on the middle of her back. Elphaba looked at Fiyero, slightly surprised by the closeness of their position and the way she felt the warmth of his hand through her dress.

"Ready?" He asked, and all she could was to nod her head.

Fiyero moved them to a part of the room where the floor was clear of records, and he started to dance to the music, guiding Elphaba along, and counting the steps at the same time.

"Not exactly two left feet," he said laughingly as she stepped on his foot for the fifth time, "but I don't forsee a string of suitors queueing to dance with you in the near future." He released her, as he sat down on his bed. "My feet need a break."

Elphaba moved across the room, sat down on the floor and continued to wipe the records.

After a while, Fiyero got off the bed and kneeled down in front of her. "Giving up so soon?" He asked her teasingly.

"Your feet need a break." She did not look at him. He noticed that.

"You are angry."

"No, I am not." She told him. "Why would I be angry with you?"

"Then come on, let's try again," he said as he reached for her hand that was holding the soft cloth.

She put down the cloth, and he pulled her up again. He then restarted the music.

"It's hard to stay angry with you," she admitted as they positioned themselves again.

"Ah yes, the Tiggular charm," he told her matter-of-factly.

"Shameless bragging," Elphaba retorted.

Fiyero smiled at her, and then lowered his hand that was still holding hers and loosely interlaced his fingers with hers. For a split second, Elphaba wished that their fingers were more tightly intertwined.

"So does the famous Tiggular charm work on you? " He asked, his voice soft as he looked intently at her.

Elphaba stood there. She could feel the warmth of his fingers between hers, and she was aware of how close they were, and how blue were his eyes. And she could hear her own heart beating, so fast and loud that she almost could not hear his next sentence.

"I certainly hope it does," he said as he lifted his other hand and touched her cheek gently.

"Elphieeee!" A loud girlish voice cut through the silence.

The two broke away from each other. Fiyero was so surprised that he dropped his hand.

"Elphie, are you inside?" Galinda's voice asked. The door was slightly left ajar, as per the school regulations when members of the opposite gender were in the same room, and Elphaba quickly went over and opened the door wide.

"I'm here, Galinda." She told her highly excited blonde roommate.

"Oh, Elphie," Galinda sounded upset. "I was at the café when I was told what had happened."

"What had happened?"

"They said that yesterday Fiyero brought you to that new place and there was this man who harassed you. This is so tramautifying! Why didn't you tell me about it?" Galinda wailed.

"It was nothing, Galinda. Fiyero was there, and he stopped the whole thing." Elphaba told the inconsolable blonde.

"But they told me that he grabbed you, and there was a fight, and … _Oh_.. They said that you looked so pretty with your hair down! I told you that you should let your hair down more often." Galinda's tone changed from upset to happy in a split second as she changed to her favourite topic (makeovers) again.

Fiyero had to stifle his laughter at the speed that Galinda changed her mood.

"They? Who are the they?" Elphaba asked.

Galinda rattled off the names of some students from Shiz.

"Fiyero?" Galinda looked behind Elphaba at the prince. "Shouldn't you let Elphaba off for one day? She needs rest to recover from the trauma!"

"What?" Fiyero was stunned speechless.

"She is going to rest today. Whatever work can continue next weekend," Galinda declared, as she dragged the green girl out of his room.

Elphaba did not even manage to say her goodbye to Fiyero.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back in their room, Galinda made Elphaba sit down on her bed, and started to mess with her hair again. Elphaba silently wished that she was back in Fiyero's room cleaning up than to go through another makeover session.

"I told you that you look beautiful with your hair down," Galinda told her roommate as she pulled one of her hair brushes through Elphaba's hair to untangle the raven hair which had been tied up the whole morning.

"Galinda, that man was obviously drunk," Elphaba told her.

"Not according to my sources, and even they said you look so pretty sitting there," Galinda replied, and then quoted "'Almost normal', they said".

Elphaba winced at that quote, but Galinda did not notice it. The blonde fussed over Elphaba' raven hair, brushing it until it shined and pulled it over her should to the front. She then tied it loosely with a ribbon with large pink cloth flowers.

"See?" She brought a - mirror in front of Elphaba. "Just let your hair down, wear a pretty dress, and you are ready to wow the crowd."

"What crowd?"

"Any crowd! Boys, girls, anyone."

Elphaba pushed the mirror away. "Thank you, Galinda, but I don't want to attract any kind of attention."

"I am not asking you to attract attention, but there's nothing like people looking at you and admiring you to boostify one's confidence," Galinda told her.

Elphaba smiled at Galinda but her thoughts were already far away. Her thoughts went back to that moment, when she was so close to Fiyero. She thought that she could still feel the slight tingling that she felt when his fingers touched hers. And the way he gently touched her face. And how comfortable it felt whenever he held her hands. At that moment Elphaba realized that how much she had enjoyed the time that they had spent together and how much she had looked forward to their next meeting.

Elphaba shook her head. He was a prince, for Oz sake. A prince who had charmed all the girls in Shiz and beyond. A prince who could have any girl he chose. They had been friends for so long. She realised that he could just be teasing her or practicing his flirting skills on her. It was just a regular day for him. But for Elphaba, she thought she felt what was a slight ache in her heart.


	11. Chapter 11 Calling It Off

**Chapter 11 Calling it off**

**A/N A whooping 9 reviews for Chapter 10! **

**Thank you to robber's daughter, musicgal3, TheAsianWhoIsAFanzel, Stacey, Niki, Julie Winchester, FLTF, Aren and James Birdsong for the reviews**

**Niki, so far I don't write Galinda-Fiyero-Elphaba triangle. Cannot stand the idea of 2 close friends fighting over 1 guy.**

**Julie, yes, this is a slow-mo fanfic. The next story will be faster, I promise! **

**One more chapter to go!**

Elphaba avoided Fiyero on Sunday night when she claimed to have some work to do and sneaked off to a corner of the campus for some studying instead of meeting the usual group for dinner. She then spent the whole night tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. In a moment of pure Galinda-ism, she even wondered why other people could stand feeling this way, and if anyone had ever died from it.

It was now Monday. She had a Literature class with Galinda, after which she was supposed to attend a Calculus class with Fiyero.

Elphaba tried to pay attention in class, but it was impossible. She kept thinking of what would happen in the next class. On one hand, she wanted to see him again. On the other hand, she did not want to. And she desperately wished that she had not come to the realization that she had (might have, she corrected herself) a crush on him. Crushes were for giggling girls like Pfannee and ShenShen, not her!

When her class was dismissed, she decided that she would just pretend that nothing had happened. It was just one more week, and things would be back to normal after that, whatever normal was. Elphaba packed her books into her bag and followed Galinda out of the class.

Fiyero, as he had been for the past few weeks, was waiting outside the classroom, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed. There was a girl talking to him, and it was easy to see how attracted she was to him, as she giggled over something that he had said and then placed her hand on his arm. Just then, Fiyero looked up and saw Elphaba.

"Hey, it's nice talking to you, but I got to go," he told the girl. The girl looked a bit disappointed, but she put on a brave front, said goodbye and walked away, but not before turning back to take one last look at the prince who was already walking towards Elphaba.

Elphaba found herself breaking out in cold sweat.

Without knowing why, she turned and walked away. She heard Galinda called after her, but she ignored it.

Before she took another step, she felt somebody holding her hand from behind, a hand that was so familiar to her by now. She turned around.

"Are you feeling alright?" Fiyero asked her. "You looked pale."

"I'm - sorry," she stuttered as she withdrew her hand from his. "I don't think I can accompany you to class anymore."

He looked confused by her statement, but nodded. "You looked terrible. Forget about the class. I'll walk you back to your room."

On any other day, Elphaba would have chided him for using her as an excuse to skip class, but today she simply shook her head. "There's no need. I can go back on my own. I just need some rest and will be perfectly fine after a while."

"I'll keep her company," Galinda, who had caught up with them, offered.

"Yes, Galinda will keep me company." Elphaba replied, relieved that the blonde was there.

Fiyero gently touched her on her arm. Elphaba felt terrible, the way her heart beat so much faster whenever he touched her gently.

"Alright then. I'll look for you later," he told her before he rushed off for his class.

Galinda and Elphaba went back to their room, and all Elphaba could do was to lie down on her bed as she willed her heart to slow down.

This is ridiculous, she thought to herself, berating herself for acting like one of those immature, giggling Shiz girls when the scandalicious prince first arrived in campus.

Galinda, on the other hand, was worried.

"Elphie, are you alright?" She asked, putting a hand on the green forehead. "Do you need to go to the sick bay and looked for the nurse?"

"Yes, Galinda. No, I mean. Yes, I am fine, and no, I don't need to see the nurse. I just need a rest. I am just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

Galinda paused for a while and then looked as if a light bulb had lit up in her head.

"It must be the bet! Attending double the classes, doing labour work during the weekend. Fiyero is a tyrant! He must be stopped!" Galinda declared. "Right Elphie? Elphie?" Galinda looked at her roommate, who was so exhausted that she had fallen asleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Elphaba opened her eyes again, she could see that Fiyero was in the room. She closed her eyes to pretend to be asleep, but he had seen her opening her eyes. He quickly got out of his seat and went over to her.

"Elphaba?" He called her name, concern in his voice. "Are you feeling better?"

She nodded as she sat up on her bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his fingers next to hers, barely touching. Elphaba felt the warmth from his fingers, but curled her fingers and looked away. She did not notice that Fiyero's face fell.

"Well, she will be better if you stop getting her to clean your room. A servant? It's more like being a slave!" Galinda said. Until then, Elphaba had no idea she was even in the room. "And of all the horrors in Oz, letting some stranger grabbed her in public?"

Galinda could be very dramatic when she wanted to, Elphaba made a mental note in her brain.

Fiyero looked at Galinda, and then turned back to Elphaba again.

"Elphaba," he called her again. "It was fun winning the bet and dragging you all around the place. But Galinda is right. It must be really tiring juggling so many things. I'm really sorry I didn't think of that. Let's call off the whole thing. From now on, you no longer have to attend my classes or clean my room or follow me around."

"That's better," Galinda said as if he was talking to her.

"If you want to," was all Elphaba said, unable to keep the relief out of her voice.

"Yes, that is what I want. " Fiyero told her, but he sounded unsure.

"I guess you should rest now. You take care, and I will see you during dinner," he added and left the room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elphaba spent the rest of the day in her room, alternating between sleep and thought. On one hand, she was glad that she no longer had to sit close to him during classes and revision. On the other hand, she was sure that she would miss the times they spent together – hiking, swimming, and cracking jokes when studying together. She closed her eyes and remembered the way he smiled at her, laughed at some of her sarcastic comments, and the way he would accidentally touched her arm or held her hand. And she wondered how she had gotten herself into such a big mess.

For the rest of the week, she was back to her usual schedule, attending only her own classes, and spending time in the library. She had no idea if Fiyero continued to revise his schoolwork diligently and she refrained from asking. She also tried to spend more time with Nessarose and avoid walking next to him. As part of the foursome, she was never the one who dominated the conversations, unless it was about topics that she was passionate about, and so she let herself slipped into the background again, listening mostly when the rest talked, and offering little. She thought that Fiyero was quieter than usual, and caught him looking at her once or twice, but then she could be wrong (afterall, he would have caught her looking at him too). That aching feeling seemed to be going away too.

Things will be fine after a while, she told herself.


	12. Chapter 12 Moving Forward

**Chapter 12 Moving Forward**

**A/N Many thanks to musicgal3, PocketSevens,niki, Aren, david, ShiningHeart of ThunderClan and FLTF for the reviews. **

**ShiningHeart, rewrote the first part of this chapter so that it is from Fiyero's POV. Hope you like it.**

**This last chapter is dedicated to musicgal3 for being so passionate in her reviews for this fanfic.**

**Hope you guys will review and let me know if you like the ending!**

Fiyero sat on his bed, his eyes narrowed in concentration, a sketch book propped against his bent legs. It was Saturday morning, and he was at work, indulging in a hobby that no one knew he had.

The prince always gave others the impression that he always in action, always up to one mischief or another. What most people did not know was that he had a quieter side. No one in Shiz, until Elphaba, had known that he loved hiking through nature. No one in Shiz, not even Elphaba, had known that he sketched, and could do it reasonably well.

He had been hard at work for an hour or so, and his most recent sketch was bearing fruit. He had outlined the round metal table (not his main focus), completed the side profile and the hair, and was putting the finishing touches to the fingers. Fiyero had no idea why, but he loved to draw fingers and hands. He took an eraser to rub away a knuckle, and then draw it again, making it smoother, to convey the gentleness in which the subject had used when twirling her hair with her long slender fingers.

When he was done with the fingers, he put down his pencil and looked at the drawing. It was not completed yet, but he could clearly see what he had seen that day, when he was in the queue waiting for his turn to order the food. The peacefulness on her face when she thought no one was watching her. He remembered how, on that day, he had told her that he would protect her whenever she needed it. Subconsciously, he reached out his hand and touched the subject's cheek.

Fiyero had no idea how it had ended up this way. One day, she was commenting on how he played with her hand (and letting him played with it), and the next day, she shrank from his touch. He had terminated their month-long arrangement when he saw how tired Elphaba was (Galinda had insisted that it was due to him overloading her with work), and since then, he had not been able to find a chance to be alone with her. He was pretty sure that he would find out the reason for the abrupt change in her behavior if he had the chance to talk to her again, alone.

Just then, someone knocked on the door, breaking the silence.

He placed his drawing face down on his bed (he did not want whoever that is at the door to accidentally see his drawing) and went to open the door. It was Cammie, a pretty brunette from his Calculus class. She was dressed in off-white sweet floral dress with a poof skirt that ended above her knees and had a bright smile on her face.

"Hi!" She said with a perky voice that reminded him of Galinda's. "A few of us are planning to go to Ozster's tonight. Would you like to join us?"

Fiyero gave her a smile. Not so long ago, he would be spending every night over the weekend at a place like Ozster's, with a girl like Cammie. But at this point, he did not look forward to spending a night with a group of giggling girls.

"I'm sorry, but I got to rush some project out. Some other day perhaps."

Cammie looked a bit disappointed, but nonetheless gave him a wide smile.

"Sure. You owe me one, Fiyero." She told him with a little giggle.

Fiyero smiled and nodded his head as she skipped away, her poofy skirt bouncing. He was about to close his door when something made him looked up to his right.

_She_ was standing there, one door away, a look of confusion on her face.

"Hey," he said, a real smile growing on his face as he stepped out of his room.

She gave him a little smile.

"Are you looking for me?" He asked.

She shook her head, and hugged her pile of books closer to her chest.

"I – I was supposed to go to the library, but I guess my mind wandered and took a wrong turn." She bit her lower lip, sounding unsure.

Fiyero grinned. He remembered when that had happened before. The four of them were walking to the cafeteria for dinner one evening and Elphaba had wondered off as she was thinking of some project, and her legs brought her to the library instead.

He gave a silent thank to Lurline for legs that had a mind of their own.

"I should go now," she said as she turned to retrace her steps to the library.

"Wait!" Fiyero called out. Elphaba stopped and turned around.

"I - ," it was his turn to stammer. "I have a book that I need to return too. Why don't you give me a moment to get it and we will go together." He nearly stretched out his hand, but changed his mind when he remembered her aversion to his touch.

Elphaba stood there, undecided.

"Please, it won't take a moment. I just need to find it. I borrowed it two weeks ago, remember? _Ozian Economics for Dummies._ Maybe you can come in and help me to look for it." He was almost pleading.

Elphaba hesitated, but followed him back into his room nonetheless.

Fiyero started to look under the mess of his room for the library book. Behind him, he could hear Elphaba putting down her own books and looking for that the same book. His effort was half-hearted, his brain hard at work trying to think of something that he could say to her.

However, even half-hearted effort paid off sometimes and Fiyero soon found the library book under a pile of paper. He turned around, the book in hand, to see that Elphaba had stopped looking long ago.

She was standing next to the bed, his sketch book in her hands. Damn, he had forgotten all about that sketch book.

"Elphaba?"

She looked up at him, surprise on her face. "I never knew you draw."

"I had a few more if you are interested," he found himself saying.

She thought for a while, and then nodded. He went over to the bed and took out a box from underneath it.

He took out the most recent entries and passed it to Elphaba. Paper in hand, she sat down on the bed and did not even notice when he sat next to her. There were more than ten pieces of drawings which he had drawn in the past few months. There was one of a raven hair girl reading a book in the library. Another sketch of her drumming her fingers on the table as she rested her face on another hand. A sketch of the same girl and a blonde with bouncy hair as they laughed over some inside joke while seated on the grass. A sketch of Doctor Dillamond gesturing with the blackboard behind him. And another sketch of the same girl with an armful of books walking along one of the many corridors of Shiz. The same girl as she absentmindedly tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear.

Fiyero held his breath as she looked through the drawings. When she was done, she held them in her hands, deep in thought. She was quiet for some time, and Fiyero wished that she would say something. Anything. And then she turned and looked at him.

"They're beautiful," she told him.

Fiyero reached out and touched her face with his hand. "You're beautiful," he told her, as he leaned in to brush his lips against hers, moving on to kiss her on her lips when he realized that she did not flinch from him.

When Fiyero moved away, he noticed that her whole face was flushed.

"What was that for?" She asked, her voice soft.

Fiyero was dumbfounded. When he kissed a girl, she would either squeal and kiss him back, or go into shock. This was the first time he was questioned by a girl that he had kissed. It was going to be a long day. But that single sentence also gave him a clue on her behavior for the past week.

He adjusted himself so that he was seated 45 degrees towards Elphaba, removed the sketches from her hands and held her hands in his. He then tilted his body so that he was looking up at her, as Elphaba was looking down at her own hands.

"Elphaba, I have been attracted to you for a long time. I - "

She shook her head vigorously. "Not me. Not from you. You are the prince charming of Shiz. You dated pretty and popular girls. Girls like Cammie. Not girls like me."

Fiyero ran his hand through his hair, getting slightly frustrated.

"Yes, I know my reputation. The brainless prince who just go for any girl so long she is pretty and wear a skirt. But that changed when I met you. You are smart, amazing and beautiful. I can't say that I like you from the beginning, but somehow it just started, and it just snowballed and swept me away. Would I be sketching you so many times if you are not always on my mind?"

Fiyero stopped. There was no reply from her. He started to caress her hands with his thumbs, all the while still holding her hands in his. She did not stop him. Feeling encouraged, he continued.

"I knew that you would most probably scream and run away if I ever asked you out. So when the bet come up, I knew it was a chance for me to get close to you without you feeling awkward, without other people giving you strange questioning looks. You know some people when you can talk to when you are part of a crowd, but both will be tongue-tied when it's just the two of you?"

Elphaba nodded her head.

"I wanted to use those four weeks to find out how you are when it is just you and me alone. On that night, I didn't go to Ozster's." Elphaba looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "I went back to my room, and studied throughout the night. I never leave my table. I ate there, and I didn't sleep. All I wanted was to absorb all the information so that I could do well for that paper. "

"You could have let me won," she told him.

"No, I couldn't. I knew you. If you had won, you would make me do something silly like carrying Galinda's books or ordering food for everyone. I wanted to know you better, just me and you. If you turned out to be a nightmare, then I could tell myself that it was not going to work out, and maybe it was just my fate that I should only date one of those pretty girls. But I knew that I had to try. I gave myself four weeks to let you know me better, and for me to know you better. "

"And?" Elphaba asked.

"And what?"

"How did I fare?"

Fiyero detected the slight challenging tone in her voice which made him smile. He kissed her again.

"You only made me fell deeper," he told her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_One year later….._

Elphaba and Galinda were on their way to their next class. Galinda had just broken up from her n_th_ boyfriend a few weeks ago. Two other boys had indicated their interest since then, and both had asked her out for dinner on Saturday.

"What should I do, Elphie? I am so confusified!" She cried.

"Why don't you just stay in the dorm with me? Whoever who did not understand the need for female company is most probably not a good boyfriend." Elphaba suggested.

"But aren't you and Fiyero going to celebrate your anniversary this weekend?" Galinda stopped and asked.

"No. I told him I don't want any celebration. No celebration, no gift." Elphaba told her best friend just as she detected the smell of a familiar aftershave. That was followed by a hand reaching for her left hand. Elphaba interlocked her fingers with his, a smile forming on her lips.

"Yes, no celebration, no gift," the topic of their conversion confirmed. "I have a strange girlfriend, Galinda. Oz's economy would crash if there are a few more girls like her." Elphaba turned and smiled at Fiyero.

"When did you starting getting concerned about Oz's economy?" She teased him.

"Well, Oz's economy must flourish; because it is closely tied with Vinkun's economy. When Vinkun's economy suffered, my tribe suffered. It's all inter-related. I do study when I need to, Elphaba." He pretended to be offended.

Galinda giggled as she watched the lovebirds bantered with each other.

The two had been so low profile at the beginning of their relationship that it was a few weeks before the Shiz population knew that they were together (and that was only when Fiyero could not resist it and lean across the dining table to kiss Elphaba full on the lips during lunch). What happened next was a dip in popularity (for him), an increase in hostility (for her), and two death treats (two girls who threatened to jump into the Suicide Canal if Elphaba did not break up with Fiyero. Fiyero had to tell nicely them that that would not work). Yet, as with all fleeting things in a student's life, life moved on and soon their relationship was no longer the topic of the day.

"Can you come to my room after class?" Fiyero asked Elphaba.

"Why?"

"I want to show you something."

Elphaba nodded, and Fiyero ran for his next class, but not without giving her a kiss on her hand.

Galinda looked at the departing prince and sighed.

"Elphie, can I have Fiyero if you ever break up with him? He's so perfect." She asked dreamily, only to hear her best friend's chuckle. "Alright, I will let him know you are first in the queue."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elphaba turned up at Fiyero's room when her class ended.

He brought her into the room and made her sit on the bed, and held her hands again.

"Elphaba, I know that you said no celebration and no present for our anniversary. But you never say no to tradition."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows. "What are you up to?" She asked.

Fiyero smiled sheepishly. He took out a small little box from under his pillow. He opened up the box and took out a necklace. It was a simple chain, and hanging from the chain was a pendant. The pendant came in 2 colours – the inner part was a squarish emerald with rounded edges. Encircling the emerald was a series of blue gemstones, forming a squarish border with rounded edges. The pendant shimmered in the fading sunlight which entered the room.

"In Vinkus, when two young people are in love, but do not want to get engaged or married, the boy will go and craft out a pendant like this and gave it to the girl. The inner square represents the girl, and the outer square is like the boy's arms around her. If the girl wears it, it will mean that she accepts his love, and is no longer available. You don't have a tribal colour, so I use green, and blue is my tribal colour. The blue stones are called Vinkunite, which is one of the most precious gemstones in the whole Oz, and can only be found near the Great Kells." He explained to her.

Elphaba's eyes went wide. "You crafted this for me?"

Fiyero shook his head. "No, I took the short cut. I am never good in craftwork, so I got this made by one of the best craftsman in Vinkus. But that does not mean the meaning is not there. "

Elphaba laughed at his confession.

"But it is too expensive. I cannot accept this." She shook her head.

"Elphaba, this is made for you. If you reject this, it means that you rejected my love. I promise you that I won't be getting you anything that expensive for a long time, not until I propose to you anyway."

Elphaba looked away, but he noticed a slight blush on her cheeks. Fiyero looked at his girlfriend of one year. She was not the prettiest girl he had dated. She was also not the most caring. It took him weeks before she publicly held his hand in public, and a bit longer before she said the important three words to him. He knew that she would never pounce on him in public and showered him with kisses, nor whispered sweet nothing to him. She would never let him dance through life, but would constantly push him to do better. But he also knew that she loved him in her own way, and that he was deeply in love with her, and that he would never exchange her for anyone else.

"So will you wear it?" Fiyero asked.

Elphaba nodded a yes, and then turned around so that he can put the necklace around her neck. She turned back, and looked at the pendant hanging from her neck. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Beautiful like you," he told her as he pulled her close and kissed her.

Elphaba wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"Happy Anniversary, Fiyero."

**A/N The end! Hope you guys and gals like the ending. Currently am working on my next Fiyeraba. Most probably it will be out around Christmas/New Year period. Do keep a lookout for it ! **


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